Harry Potter Under 7,500 Words One Shots
by Hearts In Strangeness
Summary: All of my HP One Shots that are under 7,500 words, and not a part of another series. I've put the three one shots that I already had up on here now. Ratings and Universe may vary.
1. Suspected Potions

**_Disclaimer for All chapters: I do not own Harry Potter. I am just using the characters for my own reasons._  
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**Suspected Potions**_  
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**_Summary: " 'Hermione, if I ever show any signs of liking Ginny, I want you to drag me to the hospital wing for a love potion antidote.' 'Only if you're willing to do the same for me.' " Harry and Hermione suspect that their love of two certain Weasleys is potion induced after reading the sixth Harry Potter book. Set fifth and sixth year._**

_**Word Count: 2314**  
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_**Rating: T**_

_**Author's Note: Just a little plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone. I finally decided to do something about it. Now this is mostly a humor story, as well as a Not to be Taken Seriously story, so please don't be flaming me because you don't agree with some of the things that happening in it.**  
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_Mid-Fifth Year; After Christmas_

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Harry Potter was in his dormitory bed, reading a book, a rather unusual sight, as it was usually his best friend Hermione Granger who had a book stick to her face. However, what was even more interesting was the title of the book; it was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. No one had ever heard of it, though they did wonder why Harry was reading a book about himself.

It was obviously a good book, at least, that's what those who looked at Harry's facial expressions thought – he hadn't even put it down since he got it. The day passed as he sat there reading – he was lucky that it was Saturday, and that Dobby was keeping an eye on him enough to make sure he got food.

Ron Weasley, Harry's supposed best mate, had given up hours ago on getting Harry's attention, choosing instead to play chess with whoever hadn't gotten the warning of not playing with him. Hermione had gone to the library, planning on finishing all homework given in their classes, as well as researching some things she suspected would be on their O.W.L.s.

Of course, the fact that said book hadn't come to Harry until after she had gone to the library meant that Hermione had no idea about Harry state of being at the moment. So when she came back to the tower, and wondered where Harry was, she was surprised to discover that he hadn't left his bed.

"Harry," she said as she entered his dorm – no one bothered to stop her, slightly afraid of being harmed if they tried to. Walking up to his bed, she looked at the book, noticing that he was on the last page. She waiting until he finished it and turned to her, looking surprised to see her. However, his mind filled with what he had just read, he didn't bother asking her what she was doing up there.

Instead, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Hermione, if I ever show signs of liking Ginny, I want you to drag me to the Hospital wing for a love potion antidote."

Hermione looked confused.

"Okay. Can I ask why you want me to do this?"

So he told her. He told her about everything he read, from his suspicions about Malfoy becoming a Death Eater – which turned out to be true, despite her and Ron not believing it – to his sudden romance with Ginny, including what she said when he broke up with her. He also informed her of Dumbledore's death, her confounding some guy named McLaggen to help Ron become Gryffindor Keeper, and her going out with same McLaggen in an attempt to make Ron jealous when he begins to date Lavender Brown…after Ron flaunts said relationship in her face, while making Harry sick to his stomach being around Ron.

"So, again I say, Hermione, if I ever show signs of liking Ginny, I want you to drag me to the Hospital Wing for a love potion antidote," Harry said. Hermione, whose mouth was making fish motions, finally found her voice.

"I fall for Ron!" she said, looking disgusted.

"Yeah," Harry said, wondering why she was so surprised. As it had been put in he book, he was waiting for it to happen.

"Why are you so calm about that?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, everyone expects you and Ron to get together. I mean, you're always arguing with him, and bickering like an old married couple, as Ginny once put it," he said.

"Harry, how can everyone expect it to happen when he barely respects me. I'm always arguing with him because he always annoys me, and those old married couples who bicker are not really arguing. At least, not the way that Ron and I do. We'd end up divorced sooner or later, if I hadn't killed him," Hermione said.

"Plus, why would I risk expulsion by using a spell on another classmate to help him, when I'd rather die than be expelled," Hermione continued. "No, that makes it seem like your not the only one whose being potioned up. Which means that, if I suddenly like Ron, then I want you to do the same thing to me that you want me to do to you if you suddenly like Ginny."

"So, basically, you'll take me to the hospital wing for that love potion antidote…" Harry said.

"Only if you're willing to do the same for me," Hermione said.

"Deal," Harry said, and the two shook on it, while Hermione took the book to read herself. She wanted to see just how out of character she was in it.

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_Sixth Year; After First Match_

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"Hermione," Harry said, entering the room she had ran into after Ron and Lavender's rather public display of affection. He was reminded of the book, even more so when he saw the little birds she had conjured up, and he remembered that promise he had made her after he had read the book, along with the one that she had made him.

He had been careful not to just accept anything from Ginny, a rather easy thing since neither he nor Hermione had been at the Burrow that summer – just the simple knowledge from the sixth year book about him had showed him a way of saving Sirius, while still exposing Voldemort to the world.

Yet, though he hadn't really wanted to mention it, he had begun to feel something for Ginny this year, two weeks ago. And Hermione hadn't been showing any signs either – she hadn't confounded McLaggen at the tryouts, though he had still chosen Ron, as McLaggen hadn't done well with those he had chosen as his Chasers – and Ginny wasn't one of them, which also made him wonder if he had been in his right mind in the book.

All of this was making him suspicious about the sudden influx of feelings he was having for Ginny now, yet he didn't want to believe it… He hadn't had anything from her, after all…

"Hermione, remember that promise we made each other last year," he finally said as he got her attention. She looked up at him.

"Harry, I haven't been potioned up. I just never realized that I really did want him," she said. Harry rolled his eyes, thinking, and then said, "I know. I was mostly talking about me. I think I'm falling for Ginny, but…I…I want to make sure…that I'm not potioned up. I mean, I did have those treats that Mrs. Weasley sent me two weeks ago, and that's when I started to feel like Ginny was the one."

He was lying a bit, of course, since he was sure that Mrs. Weasley wouldn't do anything like that…though he did remember that one story he had overheard Mrs. Weasley telling Hermione that one summer…

This, thankfully, got Hermione's attention, and she dragged him to the hospital wing, where Harry told Madam Pomfrey his suspicions. He also made sure to mention Hermione having the same symptoms that he was.

Madam Pomfrey, of course, was up to the task, handing Harry and Hermione, whom she talked into taking it, a goblet eat filled with a neutralizer potion, one that was good for clearing any potion, including love potions, from a person's system. She only did this, of course, after scanning them to see if their suspicions were right, which, somehow, Harry had the feeling were right.

It took a few moments, but Harry immediately noticed a difference in this thinking. He was no longer feeling interested in Ginny. He looked over to Hermione, noticing the look on her face, which probably matched his own.

"I can't," Harry started to say, them shut him mouth as Hermione nodded her head. They both turned to Madam Pomfrey, who sighed.

"It seems that you were indeed under some potions. Mr. Potter, you were under the love potion Amortentia, while you, Miss Granger, were under the same love potion, but mixed with a jealousy potion as well," Madam Pomfrey said. "Now, I don't know if you have any plans of pressing charges or not, but I should warn you that using Amortentia carries an automatic sentence with it when it's discovered. Those who were in on this plan – meaning anyone who knew about it, in any way, shape, or form – are, as of now, being stripped of their magic."

Harry's and Hermione's eyes widened dramatically at that, and they left wing before Pomfrey could finish informing them of what would happen. She sighed; she hoped the two wouldn't do something stupid, since they were about to gain a heavy dose of magic, should there be many who were in on this plan to set the two up with certain people.

The consequences of it being found out were rather harsh, especially the spell that took the powers away barely differentiated between those who did and those who knew. The only saving grace for some people was whether or not they knew and attempted to tell someone, or didn't agree with the actions.

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Meanwhile, in a house known as the Burrow, a middle-aged witch with vivid red hair gasped and dropped to the ground as she felt her magic being pulled from a bit violently. The woman curse – a very unusual reactions from – as she realized that the only reason why this was happening was because she had been found out.

The woman fainted as her magic finally left her.

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At the same time, two children that shared some of the same features to each other and the red-haired woman had also dropped to the ground were they stood – in an empty classroom, while the ones new girlfriend waited outside while he talked to his sister. They felt something pulling their magic from them violently, and wondered what was causing this reaction. The pain knocked them both out as their magic finally left them as well.

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At the Ministry, two people were also experiencing their magic being taken from them. Delores Umbridge, the previous year's Defense teacher and High Inquisitor, had collapsed as her meager powers wrenched themselves from her control. Having helped her old friend, Molly Weasley, in making Amortentia for the Potter brat and the mudblood, she was able to recognize the punishment for doing such a thing.

Two floors below, an unknown Death Eater simply called Yaxley was also experiencing his powers being taken, and simply hoped that the Dark Lord never realized that he had informed the other Death Eaters about the plan of dosing the Potter brat with Amortentia – all of those who had heard about it had, had a good laugh about how it would effect the Potter brat in the next fight against the Dark Lord.

Yaxley also spent quite a bit of time cursing Delores Umbridge, who had told him about it, knowing that he would consider it quite funny to hear; somehow, he had the feeling that Umbridge had known he was a Death Eater.

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As Yaxley had predicted, every Death Eater who had heard about the Amortentia plan was now paying for knowing and agreeing to allow it to happen; unfortunately, that meant everyone, save for those in Azkaban and at Hogwarts at the moment, knew about it, including Bellatrix.

The only good thing was that some of them were so insane that they didn't realize that their powers were being taken from them – they simply thought that their Lord had gotten bored and was crucioing them, if they were even awake at the time.

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The headlines the next day surprised and stunned everyone, especially when they read through the story, and more than one person was caught mentioning that they would never consider using a love potion on someone else again, especially if this was the effect.

Harry and Hermione, however, with Luna, found themselves laughing as they read through the list of names who had lost their magic, as they realized that most of the people were Death Eaters. When they had found out about Ron and Ginny, the two hadn't had much sympathy towards them for trying to take away Harry's and Hermione's free will, and had, in effect, began to grow closer to Luna and each other.

Neither of them, of course, realized that they now had more power than Dumbledore coursing through them; they would, of course, when Draco Malfoy, who had kept his powers, let Voldemort himself into the school – there weren't many Death Eaters left, so he had opted to go himself and take care of Harry while Draco killed Dumbledore – and Harry faced him in the Great Hall.

Everyone watched as they dueled – or, rather, everyone watched as Harry Potter pretty much slaughtered Voldemort in a flash of bright, blinding white light, light that hid the dark smoke that flowed from Harry's scar and screamed as it died.

Afterward, Harry, who had wondered what had happened, was finally informed of the rest of the consequences from the Amortentia attempt. The only thing he had to say afterwards was, "Hermione is going to flip when she finds out what our promise to each other caused."

The End

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**_Like I said, this was only written for fun. Hope you liked it. Oh, and in case your wondering, how anyone who reads the sixth book doesn't notice it, I don't know, but, reading he sixth book over and over had made me wonder what the heck was wrong with Hermione during it. Why would she, the person who originally says 'killed or worse, expelled,' willingly risk being expelled for doing magic on a person - I do believe, considering the time, she would have been expelled. I mean, the Confundus Curse is like a low powered Imperius Curse, based on the way it's described. Plus, considering how she goes off on Harry for pretending to give Ron the luck potion is a little suspicious to me as well; why would she do that when she herself interferred, and cursing someone else to ruin their performance to get someone else in the spot is doing that._**

**_Please Review, I want to know what you think._**

**_Hearts In Strangeness_**


	2. Changes

**Changes**_  
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**_Summary: Lily Potter is thinking about how things have changes from what they were in the books she'd once read, but not everything is okay, and knowing the future doesn't always mean something good will happen to you._**

_**Word Count: 1,966**  
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_**Rating: T  
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_Okay, now, this idea came from reading marauders reading the books, and the fact that most, if not all that I've noticed, tend to just have them kill Voldy but not change anything about Harry's life all that much, well, it annoyed me, quite a bit. So I came up with this idea. Now, I won't lie, what's written is not what I was going for, it's just kind of what happened. I keep coming back to this story, planning on changing it, but it's wasn't be nice and letting me, so I let it be. You can blame my muse on how it's gone if you don't like it._

_Slight bashing of some characters, and obvious OOC for the main one.  
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Lily Potter nee Evans was rather glad that there was no one around as she looked at the picture she'd been given by her son of him and his family, as they weren't going to be home for Christmas that year. One would imagine that the frown on her face was do to the fact that her son Harry and his wife wouldn't be coming; they would have been wrong, for Lily's frown had nothing to do with that, and more to do with whom her son's wife was.

Lily sighed as she paced the picture down, thinking about what had led to this point.

It started out years ago – in fact, it started out in her seventh year, when Remus had come to her at the beginning of Christmas break with news about a set of books that James had found – specifically, books about a Harry Potter, who James had said he didn't know. However, based on the small summary that had been given, it seemed that this Harry person had to be a part of James's family – unless to was a muggleborn. Either way, it had interested the three friends – Peter was spending Christmas with his family – and Remus wanted to know if Lily wanted to read with them.

She had thought _what the heck_ and had joined them, only to end up surprised when they discovered that not only was it about her to be son with James – she had always loved the name Harry – but that it also held the keys to defeating Voldemort, something that was desperately needed.

It was after reading the seventh book – which had pretty much ended with Harry going to sleep after finally finishing off Voldemort with an _'Expeliarmus'_, much to their surprise – that they all wondered what they should do. It didn't take them long to decide on a course of action – getting rid of the horcruxes that were already made, along with any death eater they could, once they graduated – after seeing the fact that death eaters were still allowed out in society had basically made it so that they weren't afraid to kill them like the rabid dogs that they were – while keeping from changing anything that didn't have to do with Voldemort – mainly, the romance that had sprung up between her son and his best friend's sister, as well as the one that had sprung up between both of his best friends.

It did seem to work well – thanks to the knowledge they had, as well as some Potter connections – the prophecy that had ruined her son's life never appeared, Instead, they were able to rid the world of him – and almost every single death eater, including Lucius Malfoy – oh how Sirius had danced after discovering that – all before that Halloween where everything had started.

It was then that things began to go downhill, as far as Lily was able to tell.

First off, Harry and Ron didn't get along as they had in the original timeline, something that puzzled Lily, for he got along just great with Hermione, who he met in Diagon Alley the summer before his first year at Hogwarts. And Lily had tried to get them to become friends first, having arranged several play dates with the Weasleys, which didn't work out like she had originally thought. Harry hadn't become friends with Ron, choosing instead – much to her displeasure – to spend time with the twins and the eldest two, if they were there.

And then there was the fact that Molly Weasley decided to get on her nerves a little too much – the fact that Lily worked as a potion and charms mistress didn't seem to set right with the overbearing woman. Lily had never realized how Molly really was from the books – or, rather, she had chosen to ignore it, as not only did Molly help take care of Harry, but she had also agreed with her when Molly had accused Sirius of thinking Harry was James – she didn't believe that it was possible for Sirius to think otherwise.

And this little snag hadn't changed in their first year of Hogwarts – if anything, if had expanded, for, while Harry ended up in Gryffindor, Ron had ended up in Slytherin for some reason. This did nothing to make Harry like him, as Harry had inherited his father's dislike of Slytherins – well, in truth, Harry didn't hate all Slytherins, just Ron.

After half a year of watching Harry's dislike grow – as the potions teacher, she was at the school year round – Lily had given up on getting them to be friends. _At least Harry is still friends with Hermione_ had been her thought at that time. Of course, she did have hopes that Hermione and Harry just remained friends – it wasn't that she didn't like the bushy-haired girl, but she could only see her son with a certain girl. Plus, she thought Hermione a bit too bossy for her son, despite the fact that she herself was just that way. Harry was too stubborn to be controlled, a trait he had inherited from her.

No, Lily did not want Hermione for a daughter in law, not when there was another girl that Lily thought was perfect for her son. Besides, though she had given up on getting Harry to be friends with Ron, she hadn't quite thought to give up on Hermione getting with Ron, which she hoped would at least curve Harry's hatred of him away.

She didn't bother to notice that, with Harry's friendship with the twins, he also – and, by extension, Hermione – became friends with some of the other third years, in several of the other houses. Most notably, he and Hermione had become friends with Cedric Diggory, a surprising sentiment, as Cedric was in another house, and, in the books, Harry hadn't known who he was until his third year. Of course, the fact that Cedric had hung out with the twins a few times at their house – not often, of course – had meant that Harry had met him much earlier, without her realization.

Then came Harry's second year, and the year in which the girl Lily thought to be perfect for her son entered Hogwarts. However, much to her dismay, Harry didn't show any interest in little Ginevra Weasley, not even giving her so much as a passing glance after her sorting – in which, like her brother, she ended up in Slytherin.

Instead, again, to Lily's dismay, Harry showed an interest in a girl Lily considered to be even worse for her son that Hermione: Luna Lovegood.

Now, she couldn't lie. As sweet as Luna could be, her belief in stupid and untrue things had instantly made Lily hate her. She just couldn't understand why her son showed interest in someone who was obviously not right in the head. It had been a source of many arguments between the mother and son, for Harry refused to allow Luna to be insulted, even by his own mother.

So, as the years had gone by, a chasm had formed between the two, up until sixth year, when Lily was forced to realize that her son, her only child, for she'd never given birth to another, despite how much her and James had tried, was not going to chose someone else. What had made her realize this: the Potter engagement ring that Luna sported after a Christmas party Dumbledore had thrown at the castle.

And she had also learned that it wasn't just Harry who would be with someone else; the year before, she had found out that Hermione and Cedric were together, another surprising fact. She had begun to give up on what she thought should happen after that, though her dislike of her to be daughter-in-law never wavered much.

She sighed, wishing that she knew what had gone wrong. It never occurred to her that the fact that, just because she and the other had tried to keep from interfering about the personal life of Harry didn't mean that they were successful. It didn't occur to her that, perhaps, in her blindness, she missed major factors of Ron and Ginny's personality during the readings. It also didn't occur to her just how happy her son was with his wife, so much more happier than the books made him sound when he was with Ginny.

She looked at the photo again before putting it face down. _Oh well_ she thought, walking away from it. _At least I don't have to pretend to be happy about my son married to that girl this year_.

Perhaps she would try and find ways to limit contact with them. They didn't need her around, after all. Maybe, she could figure out a way to fix what went wrong. As that idea went through her head, she walked off to her lab. The possibilities running through her mind were endless, and, for the first time in a long time, she smiled.

Oh, how much she would love to change what had happened, and she would. She would change it, get everything back on the right track, and have the family that she'd begun to dream about. She would, she would, she would.

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"She's smiling again," Harry said, looking over at his wife with a slightly sad look in his face.

"I noticed," Luna said, looking back at the woman they were talking about. They were standing outside the door to a padded cell, looking at a gray haired woman with dull green eyes and an insane smile.

"Has there been any progress lately," she asked him. He shook his head sadly, and she looked down.

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling as if it was her fault that Lily Potter had been reduced to what she was now.

"Hey, it's not your fault," Harry said.

"But if we hadn't decided to get married," she began.

"Luna, even if we hadn't married, it was only a matter of time before she had a psychotic break," Harry said. "The healers said she'd sustained damage to her mind from the war. She'd tried to function as normal, but, for some odd reason, what was 'normal' in her mind wasn't the real world, and her mind snapped. It had nothing to do with you.

"And, if we hadn't gotten married, then I would be completely miserable, and having to deal with this alone," he continued, wrapping his arms around her. "And, honestly, I'd rather have my mother her and be married to you than have her in the real world and not have you."

Luna smile at him.

"I'd rather be married to you, too," she said.

"Okay, then," Harry said. "Come on – the train should be pulling in anytime, and I don't want the youngsters getting lost and hurt looking for us."

"Oh, you know they won't," Luna said. "You and I both know that Hermione will watch them until we get there."

"Yeah, that's true," Harry said, taking his wife's hand. "They do love their Aunt Mi and Uncle Ced."

"That they do, love, that they do," Luna said. Together, they walked out of the ward, leaving the broken shell that had once been the prideful and stubborn Lily Potter behind.

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_Okay, there you go. I told you that you might not like it. I do plan on trying this again, and rewriting it so that Lily isn't so...catty and crazy as she kind of is in this one. I changed the idea of it a bit to fit what was written._

_Now, just because you don't like it doesn't mean you can flame me. This is not a story to be flamed. Just because I'm not happy with it doesn't mean that it's a free flame for all. This story is just an idea of a consequence of the marauder and Lily reading the books that doesn't try and keep every canon romantically, as, again, most that I've read tend to do._

_Anyways, this is a one shot, and will stay a one shot. Oh, and in case you're wondering, Mi and Ced are Hermione and Cedric.  
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_Please Review, I kind of do what to know what you thought of this, so long as it's not a flame._

_Hearts In Strangeness_


	3. Turn of Attitude

**Turn of Attitude**

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**_Summary: Changes when the Quirrell and Stone thing happened in the first year. After Harry wins the match against Ravenclaw and wins back the points he, Hermione, and Neville had lost helping out Hagrid, he's back to being Mr. All Right. However, he hasn't forgotten about how they treated him in the last few weeks, and he's not really ready to completely forgive everyone, especially after learing about a book that shows the point loss of people in previous years._  
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**_Word Count: 3,915  
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_**Rating: T**  
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_Okay, now this idea came to me after reading about how people treated Harry after he lost fifty points. A part of it was because people were blaming him for losing all hundred and fifty alone, as well as the fact that he's treated differently by people because if it, despite the fact that others might have lost more. So, this came to me. It's slightly AU in that it changes somethings as to make it so that Harry was able to play the Ravenclaw match, as well as the points given by certain teachers.  
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It was a lighthearted atmosphere inside Gryffindor tower as the most of the members celebrated their win against the Ravenclaw, which had heard them a grand total of four hundred eighty points; the Snitch had proven to be rather elusive that game, and the Ravenclaw team, having not practiced as much – mostly due to Wood always booking the field in advance, so as to not allow the other team much time to practice – had made it easy for the team of Chasers to rack up the points; not saying that the Ravenclaws hadn't racked up points either. Technically, they had been in the lead before Harry had noticed the Snitch, earning them a hundred and fifty point – the same amount of points that he and two of his friends had lost their house – which had brought their total to well more than that Ravenclaws.

However, while almost everyone was celebrating in the house – Wood even more so because of the fact that he had finally won the Quidditch cup – there were a few who were not celebrating. Harry Potter, Gryffindor Seeker who was responsible for the win; Hermione Granger, best friend of Harry Potter; and Neville Longbottom, acquaintance turned friend, were all in a classroom near the Gryffindor tower, a book in Harry's hand.

This book was the reason why they were there. He had found it in the library, hidden near the Restricted Section, a few days ago, had had gotten to read it just yesterday. In it, he had discovered something surprising, something he had immediately shown Hermione, who, in turn, had shown to Neville – Ron was conspicuously absent from such a round about due to the fact that Harry had, the same day he had found the book, overheard Ron telling someone that he only reason he stuck by Harry was so that he could bask in the humiliation that Harry had on him for losing the house all those points; it was fun for Ron to see Harry so downtrotten.

That was when Harry pretty much broke off for Ron. Oh, he still let Ron hang out with him, much like he had previously let the other around them hang out with him sometimes, before they all decided that he wasn't worth hanging out with because of the point loss, but he didn't look towards Ron for sympathy anymore, and informed Hermione of what Ron had said. She had responded rather coldly to him, confusing the rather easily confused red haired boy.

Anyhow, now that we know how Harry Potter found said book, lets get back to the story. Or, at least, lets find out what this book is. It is, after all, the reason for these three students to have gathered, away from the masses of the others.

"So, this book records every, _every_, point lost since the beginning of the school, as well as who took them, and why they were taken," Harry told the other two, handing the book over. They opened it, looking through it until they got to the last page, finding their names on it, as well as _fifty points taken from Gryffindor for being out of bounds after curfew_ was written next to them.

"Okay. We already knew that we had points taken away for trying to help keep Hagrid out of trouble," Hermione said. They had already told Neville that they hadn't been trying to get Malfoy in trouble, that there really had been a dragon, and that he honestly hadn't need to try and find them to warn them because of the invisibility cloak Harry had had been covering them, though they did appreciate the thought. However, if it had been a story to get Malfoy in trouble, then they wouldn't have been out of bounds to begin with, and that they would have realized that Malfoy was there – the advantage of being invisible and all that. Hermione had put a silencing charm on the crate, after all, when she realized that it wouldn't do any good to be invisible if someone heard the dragon.

"So what's the point of book?" Neville asked.

"Payback," Harry said. The other two looked up from the book to him as he grabbed it back from Hermione and closed it. Their faces showed their confusion.

"Okay, think about it. When we lost those fifty points each – totaling a hundred and fifty – how did everyone treat us?" he asked.

"Horribly. Well, they treated you that way, mostly, but we got a bit of a backlash from it," Neville said.

"Correct. And why were we treated that way. I mean, I remember Ron mentioning that his brother's had lost loads of points before, and no one ever treated them the way that we've been treated. So why were we treated that way?

"It took me awhile to figure that out, but I finally did. It's because I'm famous. They've put me up on a bloody pedestal. I'm not allowed to be a normal boy to them. I'm not allowed to make mistakes, or have points taken away, because it forces them to change their opinions of me, from a bloody symbol to just a regular kid.

"Well, I think it's time for a little payback on them for thinking that. I'm going to point out their own mistakes, forcefully show them that I'm just a regular kid, and I will be forcing them to realize that their wrong to have acted the way they did before the game," Harry said.

"And what do you hope to gain from this?" Hermione ask. She would have tried to dissuade him from this plan, but she realized that it was needed, otherwise they'd never learn anything. While Harry might be the Boy-Who-Lived, he was also a human, prone to mistakes and not their bloody symbol to systematically build up and tear down. She'd heard of others loosing just as many points before, and yet no one ever ostracized them the way they were with Harry. And they couldn't use the excuse of having been knocked out of first place because of Harry's actions – she had noticed that, last year, Gryffindor would have won the cup if not for a massive point loss from one of the other Gryffindors.

"To make ashamed of the way they acted – well, most of them, anyways. Do you realize that you two and Wood – in our house, at least – are the only ones who didn't ostracize me," Harry said. Harry didn't count Ron in this little group, because of the fact that Ron really didn't support him.

"And the other houses? I mean, who in those houses were on your side?"

"For Ravenclaw, it was Penelope Clearwater, Padma Patil, Erika Levington, and Justine Coroseone. In Hufflepuff, it was Cedric Diggory, Nymphadora Tonks, and Eliza Faith."

He could see that the two only recognized two names, mostly because of the fact that Penelope was a prefect and Padma was in their year. However, the last five were very unknown to them. Plus, he could see that Hermione wanted to know how he found out that these people were on his side.

He sighed, before he started to explain how he knew, starting with the ones that they didn't know.

Nymphadora – who hated to be called by her first name – was a seventh year Hufflepuff that had ran into him and proceeded to let him know that she was 'on his side' once she'd introduced herself; Eliza was a fourth year who had sat next to him, must to the surprise of her classmates, and told him she didn't care that he'd lost point, as one, she wasn't in his house, and two, to act like he was the only person to ever lose points for their house – especially when she pointed out that he wasn't alone, and, therefore, had only really lost fifty points from his house – was just plain dumb.

Cedric was a third year who had changed his mind about Harry after overhearing Eliza, and had also been rather ashamed of his actions – he knew his mother would have walloped him over the head if she had seen his behavior. Erika was a sixth year who had been friends with Eliza's family for ages, and had been the only friend of Eliza's to also realize what Cedric had realized about Harry, and apologize about it. And Justine was a second year who knew that the actions of the rest of the school was just plain dumb.

And, apparently, Penelope – who preferred to be called Penny – and Padma agreed with Justine.

"Are you just going to do Gryffindor, or the other two houses as well?" asked Neville.

I'm going to do all of the houses. With the exception of people I named, they are all guilty of the same thing. Plus, I want to ask why they don't even attempt to win the house cup themselves; the way their acting, it's like they seem to think they can't."

"And when are you going to do this?" Neville asked.

"I'm going to do it for Gryffindor now, and then I'll go into the other houses – Cedric's going to help me get into Hufflepuff, and Penny's going to help me get into Ravenclaw – and do the same thing that I'm going to do in Gryffindor," Harry said.

"How are you going to get everyone to listen?" Hermione asked.

"You'll see, you'll see," Harry said, leading the three out to the tower.

* * *

Harry led the way into the Gryffindor common room, where people immediately surrounded him, shoving his friends off to the side as they congratulated him. He stayed silent, stony on appearance, which immediately got everyone's attention.

"I'm calling a house meeting…Now," he said. It was as if he had said some type of magic word. Everyone quieted, finding seats or conjuring them if they could, leaving him a space in a corner of the room, which would allow him to fully look at everyone, just as it allowed them to fully look at him.

He could see their curiosity on their faces, wondering why he would interrupt a party with a meeting.

"Okay, I know that you are all wondering why I've called a house meeting," Harry began. Everyone –save for the two who already knew – nodded their heads.

"It is due because of the actions of this house in the past month," Harry continued. Everyone got a confused look on their faces as they tried to think about what he was talking about; a few, however, seemed to realize what it was, and began to look anywhere but him, save for Wood, who, upon noticing Hermione's and Neville's reactions, realized it himself and became extremely glad that he hadn't gotten mad at Harry as everyone else had. Of course, his reasoning was different than Hermione's and Neville's – Harry was part of his team, and that meant that Wood would be on Harry's side even when the whole school was against him, just as he was on several other members side the previous years; it was what a good team did.

Then again, as Wood looked around, he noticed that several other members of the team were doing the same thing that the other guilty people were…. A rather stony expression made it's way onto his face at that, as he realized that what he had thought wasn't true, and, surprisingly, he hoped that they would get extremely embarrassed at having their point losses aired out, as, compared to Harry's, they were very extreme.

"I can see I've confused more than a few of you," he said. He then held up the book he had brought with him. "For those who do not know what this is, this is a book that records all punishments, whether detention or point loss. I discovered it in the library a few days ago, and I decided to read it."

He had everyone's attention now. Looking at the faces of people, he could see that what he was trying to say had finally dawned on many of them. The air was filled with the uncomfortably shifting of the house members, save for Ron, who's small brain hadn't quite picked up what Harry was saying properly.

"Now, as you can probably tell, my point loss is in here," Harry continued, opening the book up to a certain page. He held it up so that everyone could see. "As you can see, it says my name, the amount of points lost – which, for those of you who can't see, is fifty – as well as the fact that I was also given a detention for it."

"What do you mean, fifty?" someone yelled. "You lost a hundred fifty points!"

"Actually, no. I only lost fifty points. The hundred – which is technically also split up into two parts – came from two other people who were also caught that night," Harry explained.

"What does this have to do with anything?" someone else asked.

"I was hoping someone would mention that," Harry said. "It has to do with everything, in a way. You've all treated me like shite these last few months, because of me getting caught out of bounds, and the Professor's over reaction to it – it took me a while to figure it out, but apparently my father was a prankster while at school, so the Professor was probably having a bit of a flashback when I was caught.

"However, that doesn't have anything to do with it. No, what pisses me off – and makes me want to break more rules and get caught just to lose more points so we can't win the house cup as so many of you want us to –" here, many people in the room gasped at those words, for Harry was right, they did want to win the house cup – "so we don't, because, apparently, you can't do it your damn selves."

"Now, just wait one min-" started Katie Bell, only to stop speaking when Harry glared at her.

"Here's a few questions: Do any of you attempt to gain points in class? Do any of you try to keep the point loss down? Do any of you keep the twins from making us lose points?" He looked at each person in the room, noticing that many of them looked uncomfortable. "Now, while I can understand the twins thing being a no, the other two should be really easy to do. After all, most professors give points when you answer a question. In fact…" He looked over to Hermione. "Hermione, you're well versed in how many points are given in classes. How many do the teachers give to those who answer their questions?"

"Well, it depends on which teacher," she said. "Professor Snape gives no points during classes, not even to Slytherins. He'll happily take them away from the other houses, but that's it. Professor McGonagall gives five to ten points per question answered correctly, along with another five points doing your work properly. Professor Sprout gives ten points for questions answered correctly, and ten if you do the practical work properly, without trouble. Professor Flitwick gives fifteen per question answered correctly, as well as another ten for doing a spell properly – unless he's feeling generous, in which case he'll give fifteen to twenty. Professor Sinstra gives twenty points per questions answered correctly, though she doesn't give any for preparation. Professor Quirrel gives twenty points per question answered correctly, as well as an extra fifteen for diligent note taking – why do you think he checks them before you leave? And Professor Binns, well –" and here, she bit her lip, knowing that this was going to shock the hell of out the others – "well, Professor Binns gives twenty-five points each per member of a class for whoever manages not to fall asleep throughout the whole lesson, with thirty points given when we have a double class with him."

Everyone gaped at Hermione at that information, amazed at how well she had been able to figure out the point system for each teacher. Then, what she said about Binns entered their minds, and, just as she had thought, the reaction was astounding.

"You mean he gives the most points per lesson?" Dean Thomas said, amazement in his eyes. "We could all – at least for first year – each earn around sixty points per week by simply paying attention in Binn's class without falling asleep?"

"Yes. I was surprised when he gave me thirty points the first day in his class because I didn't fall asleep," Hermione said.

"But how did you do it?" asked someone. "I've tried to stay awake, but I've never been able to."

"I would tell you, but Harry isn't finished. Plus, you've been treating me just as badly as you have him, so why should I help you?" she said, making everyone shift guiltily in their seats.

"Anyways, as you can see, you can get points in classes, quite a bit of them, in fact, and this is not even counting the classes you choose to take in your third year – I have the feeling that, once that happens, Hermione will probably take all of the classes simply to know this information as well," Harry said. Hermione blushed, though she knew that he wasn't quite right; she wanted to know the information about the classes themselves, not how many points one got. "However, what we were talking about your actions in regards to a fifty point loss.

"Now, as you can imagine, this book shows other point losses than just my own." Here, Harry opened and flipped the book to another page. "Now, last year, two months before the feast, Gryffindor house had the most points at six hundred thirty. Now, why didn't you win the cup then?"

Everyone who was around at the time shifted, while looking at each other. They knew that they had been like that, but a massive point loss had happened which had stuck them at the bottom.

"Anyone want to answer me?" Harry said. "No. Okay, I'll tell you why; because a first year themselves lost the house five hundred points for damaging the library in a prank gone wrong. And everyone here knows who it is, too. Or, at least, everyone whose not a first year right now does." He looked straight at Katie Bell when he said this.

"Now, Katie, when that happened, what everyone do?" he asked.

"They...they said that it wasn't my fault and that it would be okay," she said, her head bowed down, guilt running through her.

"Now, how about that. She loses more points than I've ever done, but she gets a reassurance and is forgiven rather quickly at the same time. Strange really. I mean, based on the example given, she should have shunned, shouldn't she?" Harry said, making everyone who was in the school at the time guilty.

"Next example..." On and on, Harry went, picking people from all seven years who had cost the house many points when they were at the tip of winning the house cup, and showing, once again, just how different they were treated compared to him and the other two. Also mentioned was the fact that some these people had single-handedly lost the house over twice as much as Harry and the other two had, which had made their crimes so much more worse.

By the time he was done, most of the house was so sunk down that they knew that had a lot to answer for to Harry, Hermione, and Neville. All but Ron – who had been put underneath a silencing spell when he noticed everyone being guilty, for he had tried to make everyone hate Harry by saying that these examples didn't matter, that Harry had lost too many points in one go, despite the fact that these examples showed that other people in the house had done worse – would be making amends to the three at every chance they got.

Before the three went on to the next House they were going to visit, Hermione informed them of how she managed to stay awake in Binn's class. They were amazed when she admitted that she didn't listen to him straight up, but read a book, since she learned, early on, that everything he said was straight out of their history book. When she also admitted that the book she read wasn't a schoolbook, and that she didn't always read a book, but did other things, like work from another class, draw, or something else, they realized that they could do anything to keep awake, so long as they were there and careful not to show that they were doing something else. Hermione didn't tell them the other benefit to this, though, something that Harry and Neville had found out the first time they listened and stayed awake themselves.

* * *

After the visit to other houses – though Hermione never told the secret to Binn's class to them, save for those whom had been on Harry's side to begin with – the changes in attitude was obvious to the teachers. For one, everyone began to pay more attention in classes, trying their best to earn points. For another, all the houses but Slytherin shot up in points because of the improvements. And, finally, the twins weren't causing that much havoc anymore, partially because the house had cracked down on them, and partially because they wanted to prove that they could keep from losing points as well.

Everyone in Gryffindor – along with those friends who'd been nice to Harry – were amazed when they learned that they did not have homework to do from Binns. How they had missed that, they didn't know, though they suspected that it was like the points awarded – they never bothered listening.

Because of this, massive points began to be mounted for Gryffindors, bringing enough that the Slytherins were quickly brought down to the bottom, much to the displeasure of Snape, who tried to retaliate by taking as many points as he dared in class and out of it. Unfortunately for him, those who had seen the book brought up the ridiculous point losses to Professor McGonagall, who put Snape on point probation, something that, as deputy head, she had the right to, and something that Dumbledore couldn't stop. Potions classes, as a result, became much more pleasant in a way.

When the welcoming feast came – after Harry's adventure down the third corridor – Gryffindor was in the lead, without any help of the extra points Dumbledore gave them. It was noted, by many of the teachers, that this year was one of the strangest to happen. They wondered what would happen the next year.

* * *

_Okay, all done. I know, the story probably seemed a bit ridiculous, particularly about the points Binns gives and things like that, but I can see it happening that way. And, I just really wanted to write a story where Harry learns that his treatment is because everyone in the houses are idiots who deserve to be forcefully guilted for treating a first year the way that they do. Also, the idea of what Katie did, as well as the way Wood acts, was mostly inspired by something I read in another fic, Quidditch players and lovers read the books by ginnyrules27. Even if I don't agree with her penname, or the comments she comes up with in her stories regarding pairings, the series was pretty good.  
_

_Anyway, for this one shots series as a whole, I'll be putting it as complete - since each story is complete, in a way - but that doesn't mean that there won't be other chapters to it. It'll simply be on complete so that I don't feel like I have to put up a chapter for it.  
_

_Please Review, i would like to know what you thought of this story.  
_

_Hearts In Strangeness  
_


	4. A Dream

_**Summary: A small drabble about the look of a dream Harry has.**_

_**Word Count: 531  
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_**Rated: K  
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_**Author's Note: This is actually the beginning of chapter 14 of my RtB story Book III, which is where the third Harry Potter book is read by the characters Harry, Hermione, Luna, and Cedric. I was just thinking about this as I posted the story up on a sight that allows RtBs on it, and I realized that it was a good one shot. You don't have to have read my RtB series, but it might have been better if you do. This is just a longer look at the dream chapter 14 of my fic Book III Harry has.  
**_

* * *

**A Dream  
**

* * *

Harry was woken up early morning the next day, the clock next to his head showing that it was only three am. He was breathing heavily, remembering the nightmare that he'd had. It was much like what his book self had dreamt about upon realizing that he was hearing his mother, and yet it was a bit different. For some reason, the dream he'd just had actually included the dementor that was after him having begun to lower it's hood, allowing him a clear look at what was underneath it. He had been surprised to see that it was Riddle, at least, how Riddle had been described as looking in the first book, what with the flat, no actual nose and red eyes look.

The idea of having his soul sucked out by something bearing Riddle's face had been enough to shock him out of his sleep, and, sighing, he sat up. He couldn't help but wonder why he'd dreamt of Riddle being a dementor, pondering over it as he laid in his bed. There didn't seem an answer forthcoming about it. He frowned, thinking harder. Why had Riddle's face been what he saw underneath the Dementor's cloak?

He just couldn't figure it out, though there did seem to be an idea in the back of his mind about it. However, as he wasn't quite ready to go back to sleep yet, he allowed himself a few more minutes to ponder it, taking all the clues that he'd been given in the books already. The first, and foremost, was that Riddle wanted him dead, and had wanted him dead since he was born. He'd even been willing to let his mother - a Muggleborn - live if only to be able to kill him.

The second was that being around dementors actually caused him to remember more about what happened that night, and, as they'd just read in the book in the previous chapter, could suck out the soul of a person, leaving them completely empty - not quite dead, but definitely not alive, either. Without realizing it, he was also thinking about the word dementor of it self. It actually sounded a lot like the words 'demon' and 'tormentor' put together...

With a start, Harry realized the reason why Riddle had been underneath the dementors hood. It was because of the fact that the dementors were demons who lived on forcing their victims to only be able to think about torturous thoughts, torturing them that way. And the way Riddle fit in was because he truely was the cause of everything that tormented Harry. He was the reason why his parents were dead, why he was put with the Dursleys, why he was never able to live with his godfather. And he also wanted Harry dead. While the dementors reallly weren't driven like Riddle was, they wouldn't mind him dead too, only their way was much, much worse.

Glad to have figured out why Riddle's face was underneath the Dementor's cloak, he laid back down, rolling over onto his side, and went back to sleep.

* * *

_**Okay, there it is. As I said before, it was just something that I was thinking about, in a deeper depth than I actually did when Ifirst put it in the RtB story. I just couldn't help but wonder how Harry would react if he saw Riddle's face under the Dementor's hood in a dream, and just had to figure out why. I hopoe you all liked my reasoning as to why, as well.**_

_**Please Reivew, I want to know what your thoughts about this one shot is.  
**_

_**Hearts in Strangeness  
**_


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